


Fallen but Rising

by DiamondbackMako16



Category: Dinosaur (2000)
Genre: After the Movie, Aladar - Freeform, Big surprise, Bruton - Freeform, Death, Dinosaur - Freeform, F/M, Iguanodon, Just slightly, Kron - Freeform, Neera - Freeform, OC, Secrets, different ending, secret romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 11:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10763622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondbackMako16/pseuds/DiamondbackMako16
Summary: It was done. They had finally managed to reach the Nesting Grounds. Bruton survived the cave in and is now the new leader of the herd with Aladar as his second in command. Dinosaurs have started their families, and everyone is happy.Well…mostly everyone.While some are relieved at the death of Kron, others still grieve his loss, Neera being one of them. The other? A quiet, reclusive female that may be familiar with Kron in ways nobody knew.It is this female that seems to be taking his death the hardest, but is Kron really gone? And what happens when new enemies threaten the herds peaceful lives?





	1. Who's the daddy?

**Author's Note:**

> I've got this story posted on FF.net and decided to post it here as well. I'm not going to lie though, it's been a while since i've worked on this story…I think my last chapter was posted like…four years ago…? Yikes! 
> 
> Anywho, I've recently taken interest in the story and decided to continue it, but after re-reading the posted, cringe worthy chapters, i'm going to be rewriting those before posting chapter five. 
> 
> Readers here will be seeing the new and improved version, but for chance that readers from ff.net are familiar with this story, this announcement goes out to you: The first four chapters for this story will be revised on Fanfiction.net. Just a heads up incase you guys log in and see the changes. I assure you it's the same story, it's just longer and more well thought out…more description and dialogue. I also changed my fanfic username, but I assure you, it's still me. 
> 
> Going back to the general audience; In this story, Bruton survives the cave-in, so he'll be around in this story. There are also lot's of Oc's, but i'll try my best to make them interesting. 
> 
> I think that's about it…enjoy the story!

_{Dream Sequence}_

_Neera panted as she scaled the large boulders, desperately trying to catch up to the oversized Carnotaur, who was practically leaping from one rock to the other with ease as it ascended the steep slope. Behind her, she could hear Aladar struggling to keep up. She paid him no mind though, she was almost there! Just a few more feet and…_

_CRACK!!_

_Neera’s eyes widened when she saw the horned carnivore life up her brother with ease, and toss him against a boulder. Judging by the sound of the impact, several of Kron’s ribs may have been broken, or at the very least, fractured. Either way, it was enough to make Neera wince from the noise, and this fueled her to move faster._

_Dazed, Kron weakly lifted his head, and stared in horror at the approaching monster. Disoriented and in pain, he could do nothing but flinch as he wait for the red demon to finish him off._

_The Carnotaur was just inches away from digging his teeth into the downed Iguanodon, when Neera slammed into the predator’s side. The beast staggered, but before he could recover, Neera rammed him again, this time pushing with her weight, trying to push him over the nearby cliff, or at the very least, knock him off his feet. Hopefully the fall would disorient the creature and buy her enough time to quickly help Kron up and get him to safety._

_Unfortunately, Neera’s attempts were fruitless as the larger dinosaur merely knocked her aside with his head, sending her flying against a nearby rock._

_Neera couldn’t even cry out as the wind was knocked out of her from the impact. She struggled to take a breath when a heavy weight pressed down on her side. Looking up, she gasped at the sight of a wide mouth lined with razor sharp teeth bearing down towards her._

_Just as the maw was about to close around her, a muscular, blue tail swung out and struck the Carnotaur across the face, causing it to stagger dangerously near the edge of the cliff._

_Aladar, who had taken the moment to stand over Neera protectively, seized the opportunity, and rushed towards the giant, attempting to push it over the cliff once and for all. The Carnotaur attempted to fight back, but a misplaced foot was all it took, and the titan tumbled onto its side, slowly sliding over the edge. It made a desperate attempt to drag Aladar with him, but the Iguanodon was able to squirm out of his grasp, leaving the Carnotaur to fall to his death._

_Despite the pain in her side, Neera stood up and limped over to where Aladar stood, staring down at the deceased predator that had stalked them for the past couple of weeks. After a moment, she turned to her brother, ready to tend to his injuries, only to stop in her tracks._

_The lavender male laid in the exact same spot he had landed, his eyes closed and, to Neera’s rising horror, a seemingly lack of breathing. ‘No…’ she thought as she tensely approached her brother, dread forming a lump in her throat. She stared down at the older male before leaning down and nuzzled Kron in an attempt to rouse him. When his steel-grey eyes didn’t open, she laid his head back on the ground and pulled away, her face twitching as the cold realization started to kick in. This couldn’t be happening…’He’s gone…’ Neera thought as her breathing began to quicken._

_Aladar approached the female and gave her a comforting nuzzle. Neera returned the gesture, her eyes squeezing shut in an attempt to prevent the tears from falling._

_“Do you need a few minutes?” Aladar whispered._

_When Neera nodded, he pulled away and motioned to the bottom of the slope, “I’ll wait for you at the bottom.” With that, he cautiously made his way down, leaving the siblings alone._

_Neera turned back to her brother and lowered herself next to him, pushing her head under his arm and pressing her cheek against his. This brought her over the edge, and she let out a sob, large tears finally spilling. “Kron…” she whimpered. Why? Why did it have to come to this? Why did he have to be so stubborn? “You said you would never leave me…*sniff* “you said you would always be around to take care of me, you promised!” At this, Neera buried her face against Kron’s thick neck as more sobs escaped her parted lips. _

_For the next several moments, Neera laid next to her sibling, allowing the grief to flow freely._

_At last, she gathered herself and looked back at her brother’s face, “I’m going to miss you Kron. I’m going to miss you so much.” She whispered before leaning in and giving the bull one last nuzzle, “I’ll be okay,” she reassured the lifeless body, “I’ll tell my future kids about you. They won’t get to meet you, but I’ll make sure they know who their Uncle is. I promise.” It took everything in her power to prevent her eyes from watering once more. Composing herself, Neera finally willed herself to leave her brother’s side and carefully descended the steep slope. _

_Upon arriving at the bottom, Aladar gave her a hesitant smile, as if afraid that he would offend her in doing so despite the grim situation. To his surprise, Neera returned the grin with one of her own, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Ready?” He asked._

_“As I’ll ever be.” Was the reply. It was with that that the two made their way through the cave that would lead to the Nesting Grounds._

_Upon entering their new home, Neera was surprised to see a female Iguanodon tending to the injuries of none other than Bruton. Catching sight of Neera’s astonished expression, Aladar gave her a meek smile, “Guess who we found?”_

_“Yeah…”Neera said with a forced smile, her heart racing in anticipation. She tensed when the gigantic, brown male struggled to his feet, managing to do so with the aide of the female beside him. “It’s good to see you Bruton.” Neera said, hoping that the larger male didn’t have anything against her for leaving him behind. It was Kron’s idea to leave the wounded bull behind as a sacrifice._

_“Same.” Came the gruff reply. The ex-beta glanced around, “Where’s Kron?” he growled out._

_The grief came rushing back, and Aladar answered on her behalf, “He’s…no longer with us.” Was the short, but simple reply. The female beside Bruton blinked,_

_“What happened?”_

_“Carnotaur.” Neera bit out._

_The Iguanodons perked at the answer, their eyes widening, “No way, really?” The female questioned, her eyes flicking from Neera to Aladar, looking for confirmation._

_Aladar nodded, “Yeah, we managed to kill the Carnotaur, but not before he did a number on Kron. Long story short, we couldn’t help him in time.” Just as the words left Aladar’s mouth, a loud thump caught the small group’s attention._

_The four Iguanodon’s turned simultaneously to see another female Iguanodon lying on the ground, having fallen in a dead faint._

_{End dream sequence}_

“Neera…”

The pink female groaned at the now persistent voice that was successfully pulling her out of her sleep.

“Neera!”

The urgency of the voice was enough to finally jerk the dinosaur awake, and she found herself face to face with Noah and Adrian, her two adopted sons.

At the moment, the boys were grinning down at her with their Auntie Suri perched on top of Noah. “Did you all need something?” Neera pressed when the youngsters continued to stare down at her expectantly.

Waiting for a response, she turned to a nearby nest, and proceeded to shift her eggs around before pulling back with a warm smile.

“We’re not the ones that need something Neera.” Suri assured, watching the female’s work.

Neera raised a brow, an un-amused look on her face, “Oh? Then explain why you three felt the need to wake me up so early?”

“ _That_ , would be my doing.” Neera turned to see the same female she had seen Bruton with after arriving to the Nesting Grounds.

“Mackenzie.” Neera huffed, though she smiled as she did so.

Mackenzie was a green eyed, primarily grey scaled Iguanodon that, like many others, joined the herd after loosing her own to the fireball. Neera had seen her several times during the migration, but never really took it upon herself to fully meet the female. It wasn’t until after Kron’s death that the two were finally introduced, and became quick friends.

She was an interesting dinosaur. Very headstrong and assertive…a bit blunt sometimes, and it seemed that sarcasm was second nature to her, but overall, she was a friendly, well-meaning female. A good balance to rein in grumpy, new leader, Bruton.

Yawning and giving a stretch, Neera narrowed her eyes, “Using my kids to do your dirty work and waking me up at the crack of dawn?” she teased.

Mackenzie raised a brow with a smirk, “First off, it’s not the ‘crack of dawn’, it’s just ‘early’. Second; be grateful that I actually used cute little children to wake you up gently. I woke up to Bruton snoring, do you know how loud he is?” At this, she mimicked her mate’s snore, causing the younger female and children to giggle.

“Alright I get it, thank-you for giving me a peaceful wake up call.” Neera laughed and stood up. “So,” she started, “while you’re over here cutting my sleep short, you left your eggs at the mercy of their father?”

Mackenzie shrugged, “Oh I’m sure those shells muffle out the sound…at least a bit.” The grey Iguanodon pursed her lips in thought, not even sure if her statement was true. “Eh, well, I’m more worried about how they’ll react _after_ they hatch. Bruton’s going to scare them half to death on their first night.” She grumbled the last part with an eye roll. Neera couldn’t argue with that. For as long as she knew him, Bruton always had been a noisy sleeper. Looking for a change of subject, Neera spoke up,

“Speaking of your eggs, how are they doing?”

Sensing that the conversation was going to get boring, the three children took the opportunity to run off and play. Mackenzie watched them go, “They’re doing as fine as an egg can be. Still a while till they hatch, but I think things are going well…this is my first clutch you know…”

“I know.” Neera nodded in understanding. This was obviously her first clutch as well, and it was nice to go through this new experience with a close friend.

“How are your eggs doing?” Neera blinked,

“Hmm?”

“You laid your clutch first. They’re gonna be hatching soon, right?” Mackenzie continued.

“Oh! Yeah, they’ll be hatching any day now!” Excitement filled Neera at the thought of finally seeing her children, but just as quickly as it came, it was soon replaced with sorrow.

Her children would be coming into this world soon. They would meet their mother and father and their father’s foster family, but from her? They would have no one to meet on their mother’s side of the family. Her clutch mates had passed on long ago, and as far as she knew, her parents were gone as well. Up until a few months ago, Kron had been her only living relative, but even he was gone now.

The smile that had been plastered on Neera’s face only a moment ago, had fallen into a frown.

“Neera?” Mackenzie ventured, having noticed the change in mood in the female.

The pink dinosaur paid her no mind.

Kron was supposed to be here…he was supposed to be around to see his nieces and nephews…they were supposed to meet him after their hatching, but…he was gone…it would never happen. The only way they would know their Uncle even existed would be through tales she would tell her children, and even then, Neera doubt she would be able to find the right words to describe him completely. Details of him would be left up to their imagination. They would never know just how stunningly grey his eyes were and they would never hear his deep, soothing and commanding voice.

Neera’s golden eyes watered over, and Mackenzie moved in to comfort her. “Hey it’s okay.” The older female comforted.

“It still hurts…”Neera whimpered.

“I know.” Came Mackenzie’s reply, “I’m sure he would’ve been proud to see his baby sister become a mama.” She whispered.

That wasn’t true. Kron would’ve _never_ allowed Aladar to mate with her. He despised the young outcast too much. _But_ it was still nice of Mackenzie to say so. This was one thing she really liked about the female. She was older than Neera, yes…twenty years older than the eighteen-year-old dinosaur in fact, and yes, Mackenzie was old enough to be Neera’s mother, but Neera never saw her as a mother figure. She saw her more as an older sister than anything.

“He would have killed Aladar for starting a family with me.” Neera mumbled in a dark attempt of humor.

Mackenzie chuckled, “Yeah he would.” She pulled away. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Neera assured with a smile which Mackenzie returned.

By now, more dinosaurs were wandering about, looking for the best place to graze.

Mackenzie watched them move before sighing, “I better get going, Bruton’s going to be waking up soon, given that he isn’t already awake, and he’s gonna be hungry. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Yes, once I get the chance, I’ll find you.” Neera confirmed.

The grey female gave a good-bye nod and began her trek back to her own nest. Upon arriving, Mackenzie was surprised to see Bruton still asleep.

His snoring had quieted down, sounding more like a deep, heavy breathing than anything. Mackenzie watched the rising and falling of his body with each breath, her forest-green eyes roaming over his various, mostly healed scars.

It was a miracle that he had survived that attack. When she and the herd had been forced to leave him behind the night he was attacked, she thought he was a goner for good. She had feared that the Carnotaurs would kill him for sure. The fact that he was healing so well was amazing in its-self, but how he had actually managed to mate with her halfway through his healing was a mystery. Not that she was complaining.

Smiling, she leaned down and nuzzled the brown male’s cheek. “Wakey, wakey Bruton.” She cooed near his ear.

Bruton gave a snort and opened his hazel eyes. “Good morning!” Mackenzie chirped, beaming down at her mate. Bruton stretched, popping his back as he did so, “Morning…” he grumbled back, finally standing and shaking off his body. After letting out a final yawn, he looked down at the smaller female. “How long have _you_ been awake?”

“Oh long enough to get a quick breakfast and have a small chat with Neera.”

“So you were up pretty early then?”

“I’ve told you before my love… _you_ are a _very_ loud snorer.” Mackenzie smirked when Bruton winced. Her smirk turned into a warming smile as she pushed her head under his chin. “But I love you all the same.” She felt him nuzzle her in return.

After a moment, she pulled away, “You should go eat. Leaders need their strength for whatever the days ready to throw at them.”

Bruton huffed, “Don’t remind me…”

Mackenzie gave him a playful shove with her shoulder, “Quite worrying. You know Aladar’s got your back.”

“Where is the kid anyway?” Bruton questioned, looking around as if expecting the blue Iguanodon to suddenly appear.

“If I had to guess, he’s already patrolling the grounds. I didn’t see him at Neera’s nest.” Mackenzie answered, laying herself back down, next to her own nest. Bruton leaned down to sniff the oval shells, shifting a couple before pulling away.

“I’ll be back later.” He announced after caressing his mate’s neck with his muzzle. “I’ll be here.” Mackenzie assured as she watched the chunky male lumber off.

It wasn’t long before Neera was seen approaching the nest.

Mackenzie tilted her head, “Well hello again stranger, it’s been a while.” She joked once the pink female was within hearing range.

Neera rolled her eyes, “Long time no see.” She played back and settled herself next to her friend. “Aladar offered to watch the eggs for a while.” She explained upon seeing the other’s confused expression.

“Hm, Bruton just left to go look for him.” Mackenzie retorted.

Neera’s brows rose, “I’ll go-“

“Don’t worry about it, they’ll figure it out.” Mackenzie cut in just as Neera was about to stand.

The pink female slowly lowered herself back down, “Okay then.” She said a bit uncertainly.

Mackenzie watched the teenager settle herself, “Have you and Aladar thought of any baby names yet?”

Neera shook her head, “Not yet…we’ve thrown some names around, but nothing we’ve really settled on. It’s hard not knowing if all the eggs are going to hatch or which ones are going to be boys or girls.”

“That’s true.” Mackenzie agreed.

“What about you?” Neera countered.

The older female glanced at her eggs, “There’s gotta be at least _one_ girl in there, and if there is, I wanna name her Brook.”

“Brook?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“That’s a nice name. Brook.” Neera nodded while testing the name herself.

Mackenzie shifted, “Bruton likes it too.” She was obviously pleased that her mate had agreed on a name.

“You know,” Mackenzie started after a moment of silence, “Maybe…if Aladar’s okay with it, and of course if you can handle it…maybe you can name one of your sons, ‘Kron’.” Silence. “Just a suggestion!” Mackenzie quickly added, “It was just a thought…I’m just throwing names out-“

“I can’t…” Neera cut in and Mackenzie stopped talking. “It’ll be too painful.” The teenager finished softly.

Mackenzie cringed, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I know you’re trying to help.” The two were quite once more. Mackenzie opened her mouth to change the subject when a familiar Iguanodon came into sight, “Hey Tabby!” The grey female called out, causing Neera to jump at the sudden sound.

The addressed Iguanodon was a lean female with ocean-blue eyes and dark yellow-orange scales that was accented with a lighter underside. Like Mackenzie and Bruton, this was an odd coloring compared to the other Iguanodons in the valley, but Neera chalked it up to the possible fact that the female was from another herd that shared similar coloring.

‘Tabby’ turned at the call and gave a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Hello Mackenzie. How are you?” She greeted, strolling up to the two females.

“I’m doing just fine honey. And you?”

The newcomer shrugged, “As best as I can be.” Her eyes then flashed over to Neera and locked eyes with the younger female. Neera blinked and shifted in unease. The orange female said nothing and continued staring at the younger dinosaur, her eyes now shifting over her face, almost as if looking for something. This did nothing but make Neera all the more uncomfortable.

Finally, ‘Tabby’ blinked and realized how awkward this all seemed, “I’m sorry, you just look so familiar to someone I know.” She apologized sheepishly.

Neera gave a reassuring smile, “It’s alright.”

‘Tabby’ nodded, “Well then, I…I should get going. I’ll see you around Mackenzie…Neera.” With that, the female turned and continued in the direction of the lake.

Neera watched her leave, her mind reeling in confusion. What was that all about? “How does she know my name?” Neera pondered in her friend’s direction.

Mackenzie, having watched the entire episode in silence, opened her mouth to reply, but having not thought of a proper way to explain what was going on, her mouth just hung open. Misinterpreting her friend’s dumbfounded look, Neera shook her head, “Stupid question I know…I’m Aladar’s mate, of course she knows who I am.” She gave a nervous chuckle.

By now, Mackenzie had a confused look, “Well yeah there’s, that but…you don’t remember Tabitha?”

“…Who?”

“Tabitha…Tabby… _her_.” Mackenzie jerked her head in the direction Tabitha had gone. “She’s the one that fainted the day Kron died.”

The memory came rushing back and Neera’s eyes widened in recollection, “Oh! That’s- her name’s Tabitha…okay…who is she?”

Mackenzie flinched, “Well, remember that female I told you about? The one that lost her whole clutch of eggs and she was taking it real hard?” Neera nodded.

Yes she remembered that. Apparently Tabitha was a friend of Mackenzie’s that she met during the migration, and as such, it had been Mackenzie that had comforted the female after the loss. Seeing that Neera knew who she was talking about, Mackenzie continued, “Well, she was pregnant _during_ the migration, hence the reason why the eggs didn’t make it. The harsh conditions really took a toll on her.”

The grey female sighed. She couldn’t imagine the pain of loosing all her eggs. It was one thing for an egg or two to go cold, but for a whole clutch? As it was, Tabitha had laid a relatively small clutch with only six eggs in the nest, half the number of an average brood.

Neera’s eyes widened at the revelation, “She was _pregnant_ during the migration? Who’s the father? Why didn’t they _say_ anything?”

“It’s complicated Neera. I didn’t even know she was carrying…she didn’t say anything until _after_ we all got here.” Mackenzie sat up and craned her neck to view the lake.

“Where’s the father? Was he part of the herd?” Neera questioned.

Mackenzie scrunched her face in discomfort. The truth was so close to coming out. “Yes.”

“Where is he?” Neera pressed again, “Was he one of the casualties?” she asked softly.

“…You can say that…yes…”

Neera narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “…you know who the father is…don’t you?”

“…Yes. I know _exactly_ who the father is.” Mackenzie prepared herself.

“Who is it?” Neera stood up and leaned closer to her friend.

Mackenzie inhaled and exhaled deeply, “Kron.”

Neera took a step back, “W-what…?”

Mackenzie turned her head to lock eyes with Neera, “The father of Tabitha’s un-hatched eggs, was _Kron_.”


	2. Reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here's a filler chapter. It's pretty short since as the chapter title states, this is just Neera's reaction to the news, and one can only write so much about someone's reaction to this type of bomb drop. Next chapter will be a lot longer. Stay tuned!

Neera stared at her friend in disbelief. It was all she _could_ do, as if doing so would will the grey Iguanodon to suddenly break out in a fit of laughter and yell ‘Got Ya!’ and Neera would scold her friend for playing such a dark joke, and the older female would tell her who the real father was, and they would move on from this.

But that didn’t happen.

There was no condescending laughter. Just the stoic, if not, concerned expression on the grey females face. It was all Neera needed to know that her friend wasn’t pulling her leg, and that what she said was true.

“Mackenzie…are you sure? Are you sure that’s what she said?” Neera forced out. How could this have happened? How did she not know about this? Kron was her big brother, she was around him nearly all the time…how could she not have known that he had a mate that was carrying _his_ children?!

Mackenzie observed the younger female. She knew Neera wouldn’t take the news well, hence why she had opted not to say anything…but perhaps keeping it a secret for so long wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“I’m positive that’s what she said.” She answered the teenager’s question.

“And is _she_ sure that Kron is the father?” Neera’s mind was stubborn. There had to be a mistake. Kron was not the type that yearned the subtle family life. She knew after years of asking him when he was going to take a mate and start a family, and each time she asked, he always claimed that he had no need for a mate, and when the time came for a new leader, he would appoint the title to whomever he deemed worthy.

Mackenzie frowned, “Hey now, I may not know everything about Tabitha, but I do know that she had enough self respect not to go around mating with every male in sight. Just like Aladar and Bruton are out first mates, Kron was hers…even if they never said anything about it.” She defended.

Neera flinched, “Sorry I’m just…so confused…it doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t tell at least _me_.”

“By what I’ve been told, it wasn’t planned…it just happened.” Mackenzie lowered herself to the ground once more. Neera followed her lead. “No obviously, they wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret _forever_ , I mean just think about it; little dinosaurs running around looking like Kron, people are bound to ask questions.” Mackenzie chuckled at the image of Kron’s offspring dashing around various dinosaurs’ feet.

Neera however, didn’t laugh. A sudden thought had occurred to her, “Did…did he even _know_ she was pregnant? He really pushed us this migration…maybe he was-“

“Oh no, he knew.”

“ _What_?!” Neera sat back up and furrowed her brow, “He knew she was pregnant and he still put he through all that?!”

“It was because he knew she was carrying, that he rushed the herd. He wanted to get her here as soon as possible, all the while trying to keep it hush, hush.” Mackenzie explained, reaching into the nest and shifting one of her eggs.

Neera sighed, “He hates kids…he told me so. What makes Tabitha so special that he would put everyone else at risk? Lives were lost during this migration!”

“I know Neera, but…I think…there really is something about her that made him want to risk it all for her.” Mackenzie furrowed her brow in thought, “I do remember seeing them talking together in the evenings, right before the herd would go to bed.”

Neera’s brows shot up, “And? Did you catch anything they said? Any hints to what was going on?”

Mackenzie shook her head, “Nah, they were whispering to each other. Plus, I was way to tired to eavesdrop, but had I known what the outcome would be, I probably would have tried harder to do so. Who knows, maybe someone could have done something before things got out of control.”

“I just can’t believe this slipped by me. Now I’m wondering what else he kept from me.” Neera droned, gazing at the ground.

“ _I’m_ guessing, they were planning little nightly meetings-“

“Ew, Mackenzie!” Neera shuddered. That was _not_ the type of image she wanted while thinking about her dead brother.

“Oh come on, you and I both know, from experience, how babies are made.” Mackenzie retorted.

Neera wrinkled her muzzle, “But I don’t want to think about my brother doing _that_!”

“Well, it happened.”

“And now that you brought it up, it’ll be stuck in my brain till the day I die. Thanks a lot.” Neera huffed.

Mackenzie rolled her eyes, but smiled regardless, “So dramatic.”

Neera ignored her, “And it doesn’t help that the image is with some female he never even introduced me to.” She spat out.

Mackenzie regarded her for a moment, “You’re jealous of her.”

Neera slowly turned her head, “What? No! Gross! Mackenzie he’s my _brother_!”

The grey dino’s jaw dropped before she burst out laughing, “Oh no, _you’re_ the gross one! I just meant that you’re jealous that Kron had another female in his life. Another female he was giving his attention to.” Mackenzie stood up and circled Neera, “Admit it, you’re upset that you were unknowingly sharing your brother with someone else.”

Oh how Neera wanted to wipe the now present smirk off her friends face. Not just because she was giving her a hard time, but because as much as Neera didn’t want to admit it, Mackenzie was right. At least somewhat.

Harsh migration and secret, pregnant mate aside, yes Neera more than likely would have been jealous of seeing her brother devote his time and energy on Tabitha. Even though Neera had Aladar, there would have still been that yearning for her brother’s affection…and he wouldn’t be able to fully give it to her because he would be too busy-

“I need to talk to Tabitha.” Neera announced, standing up as she did so.

“Why?” Mackenzie prodded slowly.

“Because, I have to find out who this female is. How does he know her? Who is she? How much did she matter that Kron was willing to change so much? I _have_ to know!” Neera retorted.

Mackenzie sighed, “Alright, go on. _But_ be gentle with her. She’s pretty sensitive.” She warned.

Neera gave a single nod and took off in a light run.

Mackenzie watched her go with a shake of her head, “Oh Kron…you and your sister,” she said under her breath, “nothing but _drama_.” She chuckled as she turned back to her own eggs once more.


End file.
